This reminds me of Bill Clinton constantly wagging his impotent finger at Saddam Hussein. we all saw what that got us. This is exactly why liberals have the deserved reputation for being pussies on the world stage.

NeoAnderthal:This reminds me of Bill Clinton constantly wagging his impotent finger at Saddam Hussein. we all saw what that got us. This is exactly why liberals have the deserved reputation for being pussies on the world stage.

It got us not having a trillion+ spent on an unnecessary war? It got us not having 4k dead soldiers and tens of thousands wounded?

NeoAnderthal:This reminds me of Bill Clinton constantly wagging his impotent finger at Saddam Hussein. we all saw what that got us. This is exactly why liberals have the deserved reputation for being pussies on the world stage.

The Russian economy, and therefore all of Putin's power, is based around the Oligarchs. If the West was the freeze their funds outside of the country and make it extremely hard for them to do business outside of the country, the Russian economy would crumble.

WTF Indeed:The Russian economy, and therefore all of Putin's power, is based around the Oligarchs. If the West was the freeze their funds outside of the country and make it extremely hard for them to do business outside of the country, the Russian economy would crumble.

It would probably also result in (1) gas immediately being shut off to Western Europe and (2) US access to Afghanistan being closed.

WTF Indeed:The Russian economy, and therefore all of Putin's power, is based around the Oligarchs. If the West was the freeze their funds outside of the country and make it extremely hard for them to do business outside of the country, the Russian economy would crumble.

it's already in bad shape. and their markets are down 10 percent today. russia needs foreign investment. this is not going to work out well for putin.

The consequences will be to degrade Russia's economy, particularly the energy sector, by taking away their biggest customers. China would still mainline Russia's oil like a junkie but the EU has choices.

Now that the US is one of the largest producers of fossil fuels and one of the largest gas producers, we're no longer buying up as much of the natural gas on the international markets, which leaves more free for European countries. Yes, it'll hurt, but they're not absolutely dependent on Gazprom.

RexTalionis:Angry Drunk Bureaucrat: (1) gas immediately being shut off to Western Europe

Now that the US is one of the largest producers of fossil fuels and one of the largest gas producers, we're no longer buying up as much of the natural gas on the international markets, which leaves more free for European countries. Yes, it'll hurt, but they're not absolutely dependent on Gazprom.

True, but I was talking immediate effects. Rerouting gas supplies to Europe through different pipes/ships will take a bit of time.

NeoAnderthal:This reminds me of Bill Clinton constantly wagging his impotent finger at Saddam Hussein. we all saw what that got us. This is exactly why liberals have the deserved reputation for being pussies on the world stage.

Clinton attacked Iraq and in effect assured the removal of the WMDs but backing the UN weapon's inspectors. Clinton is precisely the reason, the US didn't have to invade Iraq. You sound infromed.

James!:NeoAnderthal: This reminds me of Bill Clinton constantly wagging his impotent finger at Saddam Hussein. we all saw what that got us. This is exactly why liberals have the deserved reputation for being pussies on the world stage.

NeoAnderthal:This reminds me of Bill Clinton constantly wagging his impotent finger at Saddam Hussein. we all saw what that got us. This is exactly why liberals have the deserved reputation for being pussies on the world stage.

NeoAnderthal:This reminds me of Bill Clinton constantly wagging his impotent finger at Saddam Hussein. we all saw what that got us. This is exactly why liberals have the deserved reputation for being pussies on the world stage.

clancifer:NeoAnderthal: This reminds me of Bill Clinton constantly wagging his impotent finger at Saddam Hussein. we all saw what that got us. This is exactly why liberals have the deserved reputation for being pussies on the world stage.It got us not having a trillion+ spent on an unnecessary war? It got us not having 4k dead soldiers and tens of thousands wounded?

If thousands of Soldiers aren't being sent around the world to dig holes and refill them, while we increase the national debt to give Halliburton blank checks, it just isn't a proper military action.

Dumbass liberals want to use boring concepts like technology and diplomacy to resolve conflicts. We're just "pussies" that way.

There goes that Obama again, simultaneously being completely ineffective and spineless when it comes to foreign affairs while at the same time being responsible for every world event and having a hand in all of the world's problems!

Back to the actual point at hand, I think TFA is being a little too glib about what kind of consequences the West can impose. The economic damage to Russia can be substantial if the West decides to impose actual trade restrictions or sanctions. Look at the Russian stock market today - they are already being hurt quite badly.

qorkfiend:mistrmind: pup.socket: Actually, there is a lot Obama and the US can do about it that doesn't involve military action.

Thank you for the biggest laugh I've had all day.

You believe the only options are "Invade now" or "do nothing"?

I believe we have many options to weigh. However, we're talking Obama here, who is pretty much ineffective and bogged down as a President. He's more concerned on how he looks than on what the correct course of action should be.

Great article, though with a few dubious assumptions. Certainly a different perspective.

Obama's unorthodox foreign policy - essentially working in tandem with the Russian president and sometimes at odds with his own foreign policy bureaucracy - has forced Obama into faux outrage when he's faced with some perceived affront from Russia, such as its agreement to give temporary asylum to National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden.

For the record, Obama had to express strong disapproval of Snowden's asylum, though in many ways Putin was doing Obama a favor by sparing Obama from having to prosecute Snowden with the attendant complications for U.S. national security and the damaging political repercussions from Obama's liberal base.

Putin's unforced errors also complicated the relationship, such as when he defended Russian hostility toward gays and cracked down on dissent before the Sochi Olympics. Putin became an easy target for U.S. commentators and comedians.

But Obama's hesitancy to explain the degree of his strategic cooperation with Putin has enabled Official Washington's still influential neocons, including holdovers within the State Department bureaucracy, to drive more substantive wedges between Obama and Putin. The neocons came to recognize that the Obama-Putin tandem had become a major impediment to their strategic vision.

Without doubt, the neocons' most dramatic - and potentially most dangerous - counter-move has been Ukraine, where they have lent their political and financial support to opposition forces who sought to break Ukraine away from its Russian neighbor.

Though this crisis also stems from the historical division of Ukraine - between its more European-oriented west and the Russian-ethnic east and south - neocon operatives, with financing from the U.S.-funded National Endowment for Democracy and other U.S. sources, played key roles in destabilizing and overthrowing the democratically elected president.

pup.socket:Actually, there is a lot Obama and the US can do about it that doesn't involve military action.

I'm astonished at the American media, to be honest. They're so blinkered, at this point, they really don't know what they're talking about. Military response seems to be the only thing possible, and it has to happen yesterday.

DamnYankees:Back to the actual point at hand, I think TFA is being a little too glib about what kind of consequences the West can impose. The economic damage to Russia can be substantial if the West decides to impose actual trade restrictions or sanctions. Look at the Russian stock market today - they are already being hurt quite badly.

Russia MICEX index sees its market capitalisation down $58.4 bln in one day - more than the $51 bln or so Moscow spent on Sochi Olympics-Lidia Kelly (@LidKelly)

Hey Putin! No one will call Sochi your biggest boondoggle of the year; aren't you proud?

mistrmind:qorkfiend: mistrmind: pup.socket: Actually, there is a lot Obama and the US can do about it that doesn't involve military action.

Thank you for the biggest laugh I've had all day.

You believe the only options are "Invade now" or "do nothing"?

I believe we have many options to weigh. However, we're talking Obama here, who is pretty much ineffective and bogged down as a President. He's more concerned on how he looks than on what the correct course of action should be.

NeoAnderthal:This reminds me of Bill Clinton constantly wagging his impotent finger at Saddam Hussein. we all saw what that got us. This is exactly why liberals have the deserved reputation for being pussies on the world stage.

I really wish these pussy liberals would toughen up and start a war like real republican men.

manbart:Why should the United States be obligated to intervene? If anything, the US should formerly exit NATO, what is the point of being a member anyway?

Why should I care if Russia invades Crimea?

Because Ukraine gave up their nukes for protection by the U.S. (and others), if the U.S. doesn't honor the treaty, the U.S. looks weak and not trustworthy. Plus, then all the treaties of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons go right out the window and every country will then want to protect themselves directly with Nukes instead of the international communities coming in.

MayoSlather:NeoAnderthal: This reminds me of Bill Clinton constantly wagging his impotent finger at Saddam Hussein. we all saw what that got us. This is exactly why liberals have the deserved reputation for being pussies on the world stage.

I really wish these pussy liberals would toughen up and start a war like real republican men.

But not that war. And by "that war" I mean whatever war it is liberals start, even if I said it was the right war, because then it's the wrong war because it was too early, or too late, or something.

I'm astonished at the American media, to be honest. They're so blinkered, at this point, they really don't know what they're talking about. Military response seems to be the only thing possible, and it has to happen yesterday.

That has become literally the only part of foreign policy that is discussed in the US. Global influence is being boiled down to who we can bomb/invade or threaten to bomb/invade.